South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla has said that scientists told the government that at this stage the C.1.2 coronavirus variant detected locally was not a threat.

The C.1.2 variant was first identified in May and has now been seen in all of the country's nine provinces, according to a Reuters report.

It contains some mutations associated in other variants with increased transmissibility and reduced sensitivity to neutralising antibodies, leading researchers to flag its detection to the government and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“At this stage they (scientists) have assured us it's not really a threat, they are just watching it,” Phaahla told a news conference, noting C.1.2 had only been detected in small numbers so far.